The Most Common and Costly Mistakes that 95% of Affiliates Make

By Phillip Brewer
Posted Monday, August 9, 2004

Affiliate Programs! They are the best thing that has come along since sliced bread. They single handedly give everyone a chance to get a piece of the Internet pie.

They are Free to join, easy to implement and pay a commissions on a regular basis. Combine all of that with an extremely wide variety of products and services and their appeal becomes very obvious.

It's no wonder so many folks are willing to attempt to promote them. But, ( yes there is a but here ) 95% of all affiliates are making 1 or more mistakes that can literally cost them thousands of dollars each year.

The following is my personal list (in no particular order) of the 5 most common and most costly mistakes Affiliates are making everyday.

Mistake # 1- Start, Drop and Shop

I believe that this is the most common mistake being made. 95% of all Affiliates do this. They join a program and Start by quickly promoting it with the bare-bones basic approach and expect immediate results.

Any Affiliate Program, however good it is, can only produce results if it is promoted properly. Just placing some free classified ads and putting a link on your webpage is not enough.

Even if it is promoted properly it will take some time to reach the results desired to make a reasonable profit. So when the first month's check arrives (if there is one to arrive!) naturally it's a disappointment. So they Drop the program because it's a dud!

Of course the next thing to do would be to Shop around for the next "big thing" that they come across and jump on it's band wagon for a month or so.

Some folks will continue this process over and over again until they finally give up on Internet success all together.

Mistake # 2 - Too Much, Too Fast

This Mistake is also very common. With so many programs to choose from sometimes affiliates just can't decide which one to promote. So they join numerous programs all at once and attempt to promote them all at once.

Also this happens because they are trying to create multiple streams of Income. This is what you want to do as an Affiliate but it must be done properly in order to be successful.

Now they have 10,15 or 20 programs that need to be advertised and managed and it's just Too Much. So ultimately none of the programs are very successful because none get the attention they require and deserve to be promoted properly.

Naturally, the Income produced in this manner will not be the amount desired or expected. This is not the way to achieve Multiple Income Streams. This is simply Too Much, Too Fast.

The proper way to get the best results is to join one program that pays at least 40% commission. Promote it like it's the solution to world peace. Once it's producing a reasonable profit after a few months then look for another program and repeat the process again and again.

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Mistake # 3 - Use It or Lose It

Once again this is very common and costly. It's a fact that no matter what type of program you choose to promote there will be a product or service involved. Now, as an Affiliate your job is to find customers and convince them that they need this product or service.

You must be able to relay to them all of the benefits that the product or service will provide them with. You must make them feel they need these benefits.

Make them see what's in it for them! Express how it will solve their problems and create a desire for your offer so strong that they will want to buy this product/service.

The best way to do this is to have experienced these benefit yourself personally. But most Affiliates never even try the products that they are promoting. Huge mistake!

As an Affiliate you are placing your name and reputation on the Items that you promote. They better be good or you will lose credibility and create a giant hurdle in the path of your online success.

If you expect people to see enough quality and benefits to purchase these products/services then why aren't you using them. You will be able to express benefits with sincerity and your prospects will Feel this in your copy.

If you promote software, use it yourself. If you promote a service, use it yourself. If you promote information products, read them and use them as training tools to help you earn more profits.

Use It - products/services or Lose It - Profits!

Mistake # 4 - Non-Viral Marketing Only

The best way to promote Affiliate Programs is through some form of Viral Marketing. Most Affiliates don't do this and it is costing them a ton of cash. Viral products will promote their Affiliate links 24/7 month after month.

They don't write articles, reports or e-courses. They don't create their own products such as ebooks. Of course a newsletter or ezine is totally out of the question.

They think that those things are for people who have their own products to sell and they are only Affiliates for these people. That's a load of Bull! If you promote any product or service then you become attached to it. You are in the Internet Marketing business.

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Mistake # 5 - Disposable Customers

In my opinion this is a critical error and could be the difference between success and failure. As an Affiliate you work hard to find prospects and convince them to become buying customers.

That's good. That's what you should do but what happens after the sale? It's time to find a new prospect, right? If you only promote your Affiliate link then you lose the prospect once they make a purchase.

Wrong, very wrong. You should always find a way to capture the email address of as many prospects as possible. Offer a newsletter or free report or anything that will get the prospect to cough up that address.

This is the only way to keep the prospect available for you to expose your other offers to them. Don't throw them away when they buy. You can build your own list to promote your offers to over and over again. Rest assured that the site you're promoting will try to keep them around and you should too!

Combine a good customer list with a powerful Viral Marketing campaign and you will see a tremendous increase in profits month after month. I guarantee it.

Conclusion

So, there you have it. Avoid these 5 mistakes like the plague and you will be able to build something to be proud of and profit from. You may also find this free ebook "How to Make Profit From An Affiliate Program" useful. To receive the download link send a blank email to mailto:affiliateprofit@getresponse.com

Keywords: Affiliate programs,referral programs, associate programs

About the Author
Phillip Brewer,
webmaster@profitcenter.b0x.com
(http//profitcenter.b0x.com)
Phillip P. Brewer has been involved in Marketing for 10 years and wants to help you succeed. Below is a Business Start-up Package that will help anyone get started fast, easy and Free. (http://profitcenter.b0x.com/)